


No Words Necessary

by MissRomanceJunkie



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-08-22 07:03:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8276999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissRomanceJunkie/pseuds/MissRomanceJunkie
Summary: Tony goes away on a business trip and Bucky has some separation anxiety. This would be understandable if they were together, but they're not.
The Avengers try to help Bucky get a clue.
Bucky and Tony, as usual, do things their own way.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to try and write something short and relatively fast and since this is less than 3,000 words, I'm tempted to call it a win. At least it is for me. :D
> 
> For people waiting for the next chapter of Courage and Pride, it is on its way, I promise. Just got the final read through to do and I have no excuse, really, for why it's taking so long. The response over there has been phenomenal though and I thank everyone who has left me kudos and/or comments. They really mean the world to me.
> 
> Anyway, have some Winteriron get together goodness. :)

“You know he’d say yes right?”

Bucky had been sitting quietly on the common floor of Avengers tower, minding his own business, when none other than Clint Barton had come bouncing in to disturb his peaceful afternoon. The archer had promptly flopped down onto the opposite arm of the sofa from where Bucky was currently curled up reading and spouted whatever shit had just escaped his mouth while Natasha wasn’t around to police it.

“What the fuck you on about now Birdbrain?”

Seriously, he liked Barton, but he only had three pages left to read and he didn’t care if it was just a 10 years later timestamp, he wanted to finish his book in peace, damn it.

Barton watched him with the keen eyes of a SHIELD operative and Bucky couldn’t help but tense up a little. He had no clue if his friend found what he was looking for or not but in the next moment, he shook his head slightly and slid off his perch, walking off just as quickly as he’d appeared without so much as a ‘catch ya later’.

His teammates were so weird.

\---

“Dr. Banner?” Of all the people Bucky expected to bump into in the middle of the night, Bruce was near the bottom of the list. He may be a scientist, but his sleeping habits were almost the exact opposite of Tony’s. Bruce had explained to him once that a good night's sleep couldn’t hurt when it came to keeping the hulk contained so why bother doing anything else?

“Hi Bucky, you having trouble sleeping again?” Bruce was one of the kindest people you could meet, as long as you stayed on his good side. Forget about Hulk, the mild-mannered scientist was a force to be reckoned with when it came to protecting his friends. Bucky had been both surprised and delighted to find he fell into that category.

“No more than usual, really,” Bucky replied as Bruce took a seat beside him at the breakfast bar. His ma always said a midnight snack could solve a lot of life’s problems and there was certainly a lot more choice in Tony’s kitchens than they’d had back in the forties. He hadn’t really intended to say anything else but contrary to what Bruce may say, the good doctor really did have the air of a good listener. “It’s just… I’m always a bit restless when one of the team is out there alone.”

Bruce was staring at his hands where they sat on the counter and didn’t speak for a while, seemingly lost in thought. He didn’t look concerned though so Bucky wasn’t worried, just finished up his leftovers and waited more patiently than he could ever have before his time as the Soldier.

“He’s okay, you know.”

“I know,” Bucky answered too quickly and Bruce turned to look at him with an understanding expression that made him feel far too exposed. Bucky broke eye contact quickly, choosing to look at his own hands as he wrapped them around his cooling mug of coffee.

“Get some sleep, Bucky, or he’ll be worrying too,” Bruce said as he squeezed his shoulder and left Bucky alone in the dark.

It wasn’t until Bucky was laying in bed a short while later that he thought to question Bruce’s words. By that point, sleep was more than half way to claiming him and the thought was lost to it a moment later.

\---

Bucky hadn’t given either of the encounters a second thought after they were over and so he had no reason to be suspicious of Natasha’s invitation to spar with her a few days later.

“I’ll give you one more chance,” Natasha said as she released his neck from her thighs of steel.

“I think I’ll pass. Had enough of my ass being handed to me for one day, thanks.” Usually, they were pretty evenly matched so long as Bucky stayed far away from what Steve had dubbed his ‘Soldier Mode’ as Natasha didn’t stand a chance then, but Bucky’s mind wasn’t exactly present at the moment. More like it was on a private jet somewhere over Washington.

“It’s not like you to give up so easily, James.” Bucky ignored both the taunt and Natasha’s watchful gaze as he unwrapped his hands and ducked out of the ring. “If you’re heading for the kitchen, would you mind taking something down to Tony?” Bucky stopped in his tracks, halfway to the exit. “You and I both know he won’t have eaten anything on his journey back from Miami.”

“Thought he wasn’t due back for a while yet?” Bucky asked, surprised that his voice sounded so normal when his body felt like it had just been hit by lightning. As fast as his heart was beating though, he couldn’t move a muscle, his body frozen through a mix of relief, excitement, and disbelief.

Tony had been away on Stark Industries business for the past week and Bucky had missed the genius something fierce. As the days had gone by, he’d felt more and more anxious for Tony’s safety and although he’d thought he’d hidden it fairly well, eventually Steve had declared he’d had enough of Bucky pacing their apartment at all hours and asked JARVIS for a report on Tony’s status. Bucky couldn’t deny that hearing the AI state that Tony was alive and well and annoying the Hell out of various too-smart-for-their-own-good scientists had settled him greatly. Of course, Steve didn’t know that Bucky had continued requesting updates in the days since, just for his own piece of mind.

It had barely been six months since Steve had brought him back to Avengers Tower and just like a stray pup, the whole team had kind of adopted him. Each of them had helped him recover in their own way but it had been Tony who he’d felt most himself with, right from the beginning. Steve was, and always would be, his safe harbor but Tony was his lighthouse, guiding him to safety as he explored who he was now, who he’d become after decades of not _being_ at all. He and Tony had become fast friends and it was rare to see one of them without the other when they were both in residence, nowadays. Bucky still spent plenty of time with Steve, their friendship would remain a keystone of his life until the day he died, but there was just something about Tony that drew him in.

In truth, Bucky could hardly bear to tear his eyes away from Tony at the best of times, but it was really something else to see him down in the workshop, surrounded by his bots as he sang along to whatever hard rock band he had playing as he fiddled with a piece of the iron man armour or designed new upgrades for the team’s gear. Tony whizzed around his workshop like he was born to do it, his hands darted between holographic displays as naturally as they wielded tools, building marvelous inventions from nothing.

Tony was mesmerising and Bucky felt he really couldn’t be blamed for falling a little bit in love with the guy. Maybe more than a little bit, if the ringing in his ears was anything to go by, as he waited for Natasha’s reply.

“He arrived home an hour or so ago, headed straight down to his lab.” Just before Natasha had approached him then. What was their Black Widow up to?

Bucky frowned at his lack of knowledge and turned back to look at the Black Widow. The only reason he could think of to explain Tony’s early return and Natasha’s behaviour was that something had gone wrong at the conference and Natasha was uncharacteristically unsure how to tell him.

“What happened?” Bucky choked out.

Natasha’s face gave nothing away, neither did the careful shrug, shoulders moving in a well-practised gesture. “All I know is what I have told you.”

Natasha was clearly lying but Bucky didn’t have the time to search for hidden truths in her body language, not if Tony had holed himself away in his workshop and that was something Natasha wouldn’t lie about. Not just because he knew how much she cared about Tony and that no matter what game she was playing, she would never put Tony in danger or leave him in pain, but because they’d both seen the state Tony could get himself into when the nightmares got too bad or his self-imposed guilt became too heavy for one man to handle. Those images weren’t something Natasha would use for her own ends, which meant Tony had probably just gotten bored at the conference and had decided to go on a ‘normal’ inventing binge rather than anything more sinister.

Of course, knowing all of that wouldn’t change the fact that Bucky would still head straight down to the workshop, just in case. Natasha would know that too and as the lightbulbs started flashing in his mind, Bucky realised he’d been an idiot.

“ _Careful, Natalia_ ,” Bucky said softly, in Russian. “ _Some things are better left alone_.”

Bucky wasn’t stupid, he knew his teammates were aware of his crush on Tony (at least he hoped they believed it was just a crush) but so far they had opted to stay out of it. Bucky really should have known better. He wanted to call Natasha on such an obvious play on his protective instincts, now that he had seen through it, but the need to make sure Tony really was home safe and sound overrode it.

Bucky waited only a few seconds more for a reply that never came before making his exit.

A decidedly put-upon sigh followed him out.

\---

“Steve?” Bucky’s oldest friend stepped out of the elevator that Bucky had been waiting for, a plate of untouched sandwiches in his hand.

“He listens to you, you try and get him to eat,” Steve grumbled, pushing the plate into Bucky’s hands before storming off down the corridor.

“Or better yet,” Sam said, his head poking out of the games room, “Why don’t you take him out for lunch? I’m sure he’d eat then.” Sam smirked and Bucky scowled at his friend’s back as he stepped backward into the elevator, doors closing on Sam’s grinning face.

Why did they all have to get involved in this? Is wasn’t like he had a chance with Tony, so why couldn’t they just leave him to wallow in peace?

“Take me down if you would please, JARVIS.”

“ _Of course, Sergeant_.”

Bucky frowned at his reflection in the polished metal of the closed doors. He looked rough. His appearance had been the last thing on his mind as he’d left Natasha back in the gym. He probably should have showered but Steve hadn’t flinched in horror at their meeting and Cap had a pretty sensitive nose. So at least he didn’t stink too bad, even if he did look like he hadn’t slept in a week, which, considering how little he time he’d spent in dreamland, wasn’t that far from accurate.

“ _If I may say, Sergeant. This may not be the best time to visit Sir._ ”

“What do you mean, JARVIS?” Tony had told Bucky he was always welcome down in his workshop, he had the override codes to prove it.

“ _Just that you may prefer to wait a few hours. Sir appears to be… Not quite himself at the moment._ ”

Steve hadn’t warned him away so he’d either missed something or whatever was going on had started after he’d left. Bucky couldn’t say which was more likely and JARVIS’ silence said he wouldn’t get anything more out of him. The elevator came to a halt before he could consider trying to pry more information out of the AI anyway.

The doors opened on the workshop floor so JARVIS mustn’t be under orders to keep him away which he chose to take as a good sign. At least he did until he saw Tony sat on the floor, head on his knees as he leaned against the leg of a workbench.

“Tony!” Bucky breathed out. Even as his anxiety built, he couldn’t deny how good it was to see the man in the flesh.

He rushed over to his friend, pausing only to drop the plate in his hands onto a relatively flat surface. The bots were all at their charging ports, which should have alerted Bucky to the lack of danger but his worry for Tony was smothering his more clinical instincts and Bucky was already kneeling in front of Tony, hands hovering over the genius’ shoulders when he realised that Tony wasn’t, in fact, having a panic attack like he’d first thought.

Soft brown eyes stared back at him, their faces only inches apart as Bucky had been preparing to speak softly into Tony’s ear to pull him out of whatever nightmare he was trapped in. Instead of nightmares though, Bucky thought he might be caught in a dream as a beautiful smile took over the whole of Tony’s face.

“Bucky,” Tony uttered softly and warmth spread through Bucky from head to toe. Tony said his name like a traveler would say ‘home’, with relief and longing finally sated.

Bucky didn’t really think about his actions but they were definitely his hands cupping Tony’s cheeks now, the eyes he’d yet to look away from growing wide as the smile below them turned questioning.

“What are you doing down here, doll?” The endearment fell from his lips easily but Bucky was too caught up in shades of brown to notice. There was something there, some emotion hiding amongst the flecks of copper and chocolate that Bucky desperately wanted to pull into the light. Needed to.

“I- I don’t know. No, I know, I just-” Tony cut himself off but didn’t look away. He seemed as caught up in Bucky as Bucky himself was in Tony. “I missed you,” he said eventually and Bucky’ breath caught. There was no mistaking what Tony meant and he wouldn’t insult either of them by pretending otherwise.

“You know, our teammates have been less than subtle in telling me to ask you out for a while now but even after I realised what they were doing, I still didn’t think I had a chance with you,” Bucky said and hushed Tony when he tried to interrupt. He stroked his cheek with his metal thumb and Tony raised his own hands to cover Bucky’s, the rough callouses that caught on his skin were a reminder of how hard Tony worked to keep them all safe, to keep the world safe. Tony deserved every bit of happiness life had to offer and if Bucky could be a part of that, he would be so gladly and selfishly because it was sure to give him back at least the same amount of happiness, if not more. “I thought I would have known if you felt the same way, I would have seen because I’m always watching you, Tony. Some days, it seems like the only thing that keeps me sane is looking at you.” It’s a dangerous thing, really, but no less true. “But you were hiding from me.”

“I had to, I didn’t know you felt the same. You have to understand Buck, I had to- I had to protect myself. I didn’t know you felt the same,” Tony repeated and Bucky couldn’t stand to waste another moment.

They moved at the same time and it took a moment to get the angle right and then another for them remember that force wasn’t everything but then it was perfect. Tony’s lips were soft beneath his and he couldn’t help but nip and lick at the bottom one to plump it up a little. Tony moaned into his mouth and Bucky ate it all up before opening his mouth a little wider, teasing Tony with his tongue, encouraging him to take control. Tony accepted the offer with determination and soon Bucky was seeing stars as Tony took ownership of his mouth with an ease that came with years of experience. Bucky didn’t care about any of that though because here and now it was just them, just Tony and Bucky and they were choosing each other, warts and all. Nightmares and PTSD and _history_ and all.

They moved to part at the same time as well.

“That was…”

“Yeah,” Tony replied. “We should probably talk before doing that again right?”

Laughter danced in Tony’s eyes and Bucky nodded his agreement even as he captured Tony’s mouth in another kiss.

“We can talk later,” Bucky said into Tony’s neck, mouthing at the skin there before sucking up a bruise as Tony tried to catch his breath.

“You have the best ideas,” Tony gasped and climbed onto Bucky’s lap. Bucky was pulled up by gentle tugs of his hair and oh God, did that feel good, before Tony crashed their lips together again. Bucky was never going to tire of the taste of him.

Later, they would talk about how they felt and where they were going but Bucky wasn’t worried about any of that just now. Right now, Bucky was more than happy to explain his position in exquisite detail using a much older language.

It was a conversation he would make sure they both enjoyed immensely.

Looking up into Tony’s eyes once again as their movements slowed, as their kisses became deeper and they began peeling the clothes off each other, lavishing each exposed section with a caress of lips or skin, Bucky knew that words weren’t really necessary anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are love. :)


End file.
